Since 2014, Counter-Strike has added in-game graffiti and other memorials to commemorate its most historic esports moments.
The majority of graffiti and commemorations from the CSGO era have been removed due to the reworking of maps over the years, but a few classic graffiti remain in CS2 to join magixx’s recently added 1v4 commemoration.
So let’s take a trip through memory lane and see the origins of Counter-Strike 2’s remaining graffiti and easter eggs.
ESL One Cologne 2014: The Olof Burning Defuse
The first-ever esports memorial graffiti added to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive remains to this day: The ‘Burning Defender’ graffiti on Overpass’s B bombsite.
The graffiti memorializes a moment during the ESL One Cologne 2014 semi-finals in the contest between Fnatic and Team Dignitas.
With the score at 14-14 on Map 2 of Overpass, Team Dignitas got the bomb down on the T-side as they attempted to get that all-important map point.
Team Dignitas players Nicolai ‘device’ Reedtz and Henrik ‘FeTiSh’ Christensen positioned themselves behind the short smoke, with the AWPer throwing a molotov to keep Fnatic off the bomb.
Instead, olof got on the bomb and stuck it. Surrounded by flames that slowly burned his HP away, olof just managed to live long enough to defuse the bomb before perishing.
Fnatic would go on to win the map 16-14, and the series 2-0 before losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Grand Final. While the moment did not lead to a trophy, it led to the artwork we still have to this day, which was added a mere 11 days after the iconic moment took place.
Dreamhack Winter 2014: The ‘Olofboost’
From fame and exaltation to infamy; Our second surviving commemoration originates from DreamHack Winter 2014, where olofmeister’s actions were once again added to the game.
Behind the truck at CT-spawn on Overpass, you will find a sign that says “Geländer übersteigen verboten.” This sign translates to “climbing over the railing is prohibited” in English.
It is a subtle homage to Counter-Strike’s most infamous esports moment: the Olofboost.
Trailing 13-3 to LDLC on the deciding map of Overpass, Fnatic were on the brink of a quarter-final elimination from the Major. Forced into a corner, the Swedish roster decided to pull out a till-then unrevealed secret tactic, a boost over CT-spawn.
The boost required Olof to boost Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson onto the ledge, then Jesper ‘JW’ Wecksell boosted Olof onto Krimz to set the player up, overlooking the Water position.
Equipped with a Scout, Olof picked the unaware LDLC players off from the position, starting Fnatic’s comeback that ultimately ended with a 16-13 victory.
Following the contest, LDLC complained about the boost, which they believed to be an illegal pixel-walk, involving positioning that required players to be standing in a position that had no visible ledge to stand on. Fnatic then accused LDLC of using a similar pixelwalk during the game.
In the end, the tournament admins determined that the map should be replayed, but under immense outrage and fury from the community, Fnatic chose to forfeit the contest, exiting the competition in the quarter-finals.
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MLG Columbus 2016: coldzera jumping AWP 4k
Our next graffiti sits behind the van at the B-bombsite of Mirage, as a tribute to the most famous play from MLG Columbus 2016.
Team Liquid arrived at the semi-finals of MLG Columbus as the hometown heroes. Featuring four American players and promising young upstart Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev, Liquid were riding the high of an adoring crowd as they looked to upset Luminosity and make the Grand Final.
After a string of CT rounds to end the half, Liquid started their T-side with all the momentum, winning eight of their first nine T-side rounds to give them six map points at 15-9.
With the contest seemingly over, Liquid made the right call and attacked the B bombsite, where only Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David resided, with only an AWP to defend himself.
With the Liquid horde descending, coldzera secured the first kill, repositioning to go for an audacious jumping no-scope, which miraculously killed two, before cold bagged a final kill against Nicholas ‘nitr0’ Cannella.
The 4k remains forever commemorated on Mirage by the winged AWP graffiti with four skulls adorning it, and with good reason too.
Liquid would not win another round on the map, falling 15-19 in overtime, before an even more remarkable collapse on Cache where they lost from 15-6 up.
As for Luminosity, the 2-0 semi-final win would lead to a 2-0 Grand Final victory against NAVI and the first Major for the legendary Brazilian lineup.
IEM Cologne 2026 Major: magixx 1v4 spraydown
Boris ‘magixx’ Vorobyev became the recipient of the first commemoration added to celebrate a play in a Counter-Strike 2 major with a collection of jars added to Mirage’s market position.
Four jars of sauce were added to the game in the post-IEM Cologne 2026 Major update. The jars are branded “magic” with Russian characters that translate roughly to “secret sauce” and a “4x” symbol.
The four jars and 4x symbol represent magixx’s remarkable 4k spraydown against G2 in the quarter-finals of the IEM Cologne 2026 Major at 16-17 in Overtime 2 on Mirage.
magixx called for his teammates to hit the A-site, secretly taking the bomb to the B-site to a sneaky plant on the other side of the map.
The call didn’t exactly go to plan, as his teammates managed to kill only one of the G2 cohort, but the play did bank magixx enough time to plant the bomb. magixx decided to take up a position beside the shelves in Market, hoping for the G2 roster to unsuspectingly walk into his crosshair.
It played out exactly as he had hoped, with G2’s remaining players walking one by one into magixx’s spray, securing the round for Spirit.
While it took two more overtimes for the map to be decided, the reaction from both magixx’s teammates and the Lanxess arena instantly made it a legendary moment, resulting in the addition of the commemoration to the game.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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